


Sound of Silence

by Sarcasticles



Category: One Piece
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-19
Updated: 2017-11-19
Packaged: 2019-02-04 05:11:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,450
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12763869
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sarcasticles/pseuds/Sarcasticles
Summary: Her aunt always said that children should be seen and not heard, but Robin quickly learned that pirates should be neither seen nor heard.





	Sound of Silence

Robin waited until the archeologists were well into their meeting before making her move. Gathering up her notebook Robin activated her power. She’d only recently discovered the hidden room in the basement, and Professor Clover’s clumsy attempts to deflect her questions only left her more curious than ever.

If she were caught the archeologists would get angry, and that alone was almost enough to make her stop. _Almost_. Robin respected each and every one of her teachers and wanted nothing more to make them proud, but that powerful instinct was overruled by one thing: the desire to see her mother.

Scratching down notes in a cypher she’d invented herself, Robin copied the next chapter in the book discussing the grammar of a long-dead language. She didn’t understand why Professor Clover was so against her learning how to read the poneglyphs. Perhaps he thought it was too difficult and would detract from her normal studies.

And maybe it was selfish of her, but Robin wanted to prove him wrong. She _could_ learn the True History and become an archeologist at the same time. She would be smart enough and brave enough to go out to sea. Then and only then could she find the one thing she’d always wanted, the thing the people of Ohara said she was too monstrous or creepy or weird to deserve.

The poneglyphs were the only barrier standing between Robin and her family, and not even the disappointment of her teachers could stop her when she set her mind to overcome it.

* * *

 

The ascent to her room was the most perilous she’d ever taken. Robin held her breath as she put her weight on the first stair, carefully staying near the wall where it was less likely to creak. She’d long-since learned how to silently navigate the house – bare feet were better than shod, the floors were more settled next to heavy items of furniture and thus less likely to make noise, it was best to avoid the third stair entirely…

Robin stretched over the bad step, using her power to grab ahold of the railing while she clutched her stolen contraband near her chest. Tonight was not the first night she’d taken food, but usually she only took the smallest amount needed to silence her rumbling belly. Auntie kept track of the bread, and if she noticed any missing, then, well, it was best if she _didn’t_ notice.

A phantom ear caught her uncle roll over in his sleep, his soft snores interrupted as he snuggled deeper into his covers. Robin held perfectly still, fighting against the urge to run until sleep overtook him once more.

She hurried to her bedroom after that. Using only the light of the moon she loosened a floorboard under her bed and hid the loaf of bread. Even then it took a long time for her to fall asleep. With her power it would be easy to smuggle the food out of the house, but it would have to be early – before Auntie woke up and started breakfast. Otherwise Robin would end up grounded and Saul would go hungry.

Robin supposed she ought to feel guilty for the deception, but she didn’t. Saul was her only friend in the world, and she would do anything for his wellbeing.

* * *

Robin didn’t realize how noisy ships were until she spent months living in one. Wind and waves rocked the boat even on calm days, and the pirates she traveled with were obnoxiously loud. She learned quickly that these men and women didn’t think highly of a smart mouth or the dark thoughts that consumed her mind since the destruction of Ohara. She was no longer Nico Robin, outcast, but the Demon of Ohara, _monster_. Those who weren’t afraid distrusted her on sight.

Her aunt always said that children should be seen and not heard, but Robin quickly learned that a pirate should be neither seen nor heard. It wasn’t enough to be quiet; Robin had to to stay _hidden_. There was always someone watching, waiting for her make the slightest mistake that would justify their predetermined hatred. The shadows were the only safe place from the hungry eyes of those who would consume her, and so that’s where Robin stayed.

And maybe they had their reasons, misinformed as they were, but Robin hated them right back. All she wanted was to learn history, and if she had to become the monster the world already said she was…so be it.  

* * *

Robin couldn't remember when exactly she realized that Crocodile was going to kill her. She supposed deep down she’d always known that he would have no use for her after finding the Ancient Weapon, but actually wanting her dead? That was cruel, even for him.

This time she couldn’t run. With his connections there wasn’t anywhere in the world Robin could flee that would be safe from Crocodile's  influence. She’d gone to him for protection from the powerful enemies who wanted her dead, not to add another to the list.

Perhaps her death was the inevitable end to the path she’d walked for twenty long, difficult years, but Robin wasn’t ready to give up. This time she would fight back, matching scheme for scheme in a deadly dance between Warlord and pirate. She would find the Alabastian poneglyph if it was the last thing she ever did.

* * *

Well, this was different.

Her entire life Robin had sneaked and snooped and sleuthed, both to survive and find the answers from the powers that would keep them from her. She hid until there was nowhere left to hide, ran until her legs could no longer carry her, and fought until she had nothing left to give. Robin was an expert at using the dirty, underhanded tricks of her enemies against them, turning strength to weakness through keen observation and ruthless pragmatism. It was a necessary precaution for the cutthroat world that she lived in.

The Straw Hat Pirates were the antithesis to every truth she’d learned over the last two decades. They did not abandon her when it was most convenient. They did not turn against her when misfortune came. They didn’t care what she did or where she came from, and seemed wholly uninterested in using her as a tool for their own survival.

And perhaps it was too soon to tell, but Robin wanted to believe they were different, that she didn’t need to fight or hide or run. That she was finally safe.

What a fool she was.

* * *

Robin crept along the walls of the _Sunny._ She’d memorized which floorboards creaked and moaned under her weight shortly after setting off from Water 7, and kept in the habit of oiling the door hinges herself. She knew Zoro was on watch and that Sanji was still awake preparing the meals for the next day. She avoided them deftly on her way to the library, as silent as a ghost on its nightly haunt.

The library she navigated by touch rather than sight, leaving the lamps unlit. She found the open slot on the fourth row of shelves and slid the thick text in place. Mission accomplished, she returned to the woman’s quarters.

Nami was sound asleep, the tangled mass of blankets and pillows rising and falling with each contented breath. Today she had worked on maps in addition to preforming her normal duties as the ship’s navigator, and had gone to bed so exhausted Robin wasn’t sure that anything short of a marine attack would wake her before morning.

Even so, Robin changed quietly. She went through her nightly routine without stirring Nami from her slumber, before sitting upright at the edge of her bed and calling upon her power.

Zoro was dozing off in the crow’s nest, but Robin knew he would rouse at the first sign of trouble. Sanji had finished his work, and the soft glow of his cigarette marked his path as he walked back to the men’s quarters. Luffy, Usopp, Chopper, Franky, and Brook were all settled in for the night, and Robin recognized each cadence of their breathing, from Brooks strange, almost whistling snores to the nonsense stories Usopp muttered as he slept.

And perhaps it was an invasion of their privacy to look in on them like this, but Robin couldn’t help it. They were the reason she no longer had to be afraid. They weren’t children, not anymore, but she would look after them all the same in the only way she knew how.

Quietly, without saying a word, she pulled the blanket over her shoulders. A smile graced her lips, and finally satisfied that her family was safe and well, Robin slept.


End file.
